DDA Officers Reelected & Receive Budget Statement

The Dexter Downtown Development Authority voted to keep the current officers in their jobs on the board, Thursday. Board members Patrick Becker, Tom Covert, Carol Jones and Dan O’Haver were not present for the meeting.

“My understanding is that everybody’s happy in their current role, but I believe Tom’s looking to step down from the DDA after his term ends,” Dexter Mayor Shawn Keogauh said.

Tom Covert was reelected as treasurer of the DDA board. He was not present Thursday morning but will remain in office till 2016.

Steve Brouwer will remain chairman and Doug Finn Vice-Chair until 2017. Board member Fred Schmid will also stay till 2017.

Carol Joans will remain as Secretary until 2018, along with members Fred Model and Randy Willis.

Patrick Becker and Dan O’Haver will stay in office as regular members until 2019. The mayor will continue as the Ex-Officio officer.

Also at that meeting, they received a treasurer’s report from Community Development Director Michelle Aniol. The DDA Cash Balances Report, which was included in the packet available online, was drawn up at the end of last August.

It shows that the DDA has $18,927.57 available in a TCF Money Market Account and $202,540.33 in a One National Bank Money Market Account and $250,000 in an account with the Ann Arbor State Bank. This means a total of $471,467.90.

The report estimated a projected revenue of $531,758.77 for the 2015/2016 fiscal year and $667,170.17 in expenditures. The report says that the funds set aside for the Wellness Center fund of $224,904 will more than make up for the shortfall. The final projected year end cash balance is $111,152.50.

After her report, Aniol took general questions. Dexter mayor Shawn Keough made a general comment about a decommissioning agreement the city is in with DTE Energy.

The decommissioning negotiations are ongoing. The mayor said that the current draft of the agreement has been sent to DTE for consideration. And if they do accept the agreement, in its current form, it could have some financial repercussions.

“I just want the board to be aware that … if DTE accepted it, it’s going to trigger about a 90 thousand dollar payment. Which we don’t have 25 of budgeted,” Keough said.

Keough urged the board to be aware of this situation and find a way to deal with it, should it happen before the city can prepare. Including, possibly, moving money around the different funds or asking for a payment delay. Several methods were discussed but none were settled on.

The half hour long meeting included a update on a ongoing Downtown redevelopment RFQ. An RFQ is a basic business strategy where a company, or a government entity, invites several bidders to compete for a contract.

This RFQ is for a redevelopment project, downtown. According to the Memorandum attached to the packet, it was reviewed by an “ad-hoc committee.” A combination of members from the DDA, City Council and Economic Preparedness Committee.

The committee decided that it met requirements and the interview process for the project will proceed. Aniol told the board that there will be a public forum at the Dexter District Library on September 29th. According to the packet, the 5 PM forum will include presentations from “MHT Housing,” “Foremost Development” and “Home Renewal Systems.”

“The ad-hoc committee will be meeting next week to map out a post-interview strategy,” the Memorandum said. The Memorandum is available at dextermi.gov.

The board also included an attorney invoice fee of $6,201.50 to Scott E. Munzel, P.C. This fee was related to services rendered in July against the Dexter Wellness Center, according to the packet.

The board unanimously approved meetings for the next meeting, on October 15th.